Tough new rules for 2011 exam candidates

FILE | Nation Duncan Kalware Maleya writes his KCPE exam at Kapkenduywo Primary School in Eldoret town in November. Results of the examinations will be announced on Tuesday. 

By SAMUEL SIRINGI ssiringi@ke.nationmedia.comPosted Monday, December 27 2010 at 21:00

In Summary

• The penalty for late KCPE registration has been doubled from Sh500 to Sh1,000 and Sh2,000 per subject for Form Fours

Huge penalties await students who register late under new national examinations guidelines that come into force next week.

The Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) results, set to be announced on Tuesday morning, will be the last to have registered candidates manually — schools are now required to submit all future registrations on-line.

The penalty for late registration for KCPE has been doubled from Sh500 to Sh1,000 while the cost of late submission for Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) has also been doubled from Sh1,000 per subject to Sh2,000. It means KCPE candidates will pay at least Sh14,000 penalty for late registration since the minimum number of subjects at the KCSE is seven.

According to a circular sent to senior education officials by the Kenya National Examinations Council (Knec) secretary, Mr Paul Wasanga, the registration period has been shortened to allow more time for a smooth implementation of the electronic system.

Parents who traditionally gave priority to paying the first term fees for candidate classes in January will now be pushed harder to simultaneously raise money for exam registration.

According to the new Knec schedule, the registration begins on Monday and ends on March 31.

Those registering after the period will be deemed to be late and be made to pay a penalty, but only until May 15.

Traditionally, the late registration lasted until May 31 for both examinations.

The council’s new rules coincide with the start of the on-line registration procedure where schools will enrol their candidates over the Internet.

The system replaces the manual process in which schools used pen and paper to fill out candidate’s details, which were then forwarded to Knec.

However, the circular says the on-line KCPE registration will be on pilot basis for the 2011 KCPE examination.

But it will be fully implemented for the KCSE candidates.

Mr Wasanga said that from next year, the council will not print the manual register it usually sends to schools for confirmation of the correctness of candidate data as has been the tradition.

“Heads of specific schools will instead be given specific passwords, which they will use to access the on-line registration data of their candidates, which they will be able to make amendments (to) and confirm their correctness,” he said.

The council said it will not accept registration details of candidates who will not have birth certificates.

“Candidates should be encouraged to begin the process of obtaining the document as soon as possible to avoid last-minute rush and unnecessary delays,” the council said. It also said that all its circulars to schools will be posted on its website.

So strict is the new registration system that candidates attempting to enrol later than the set deadline will be shut out automatically.

“It should be noted that the online/e-registration system will automatically close and no candidates will be registered after the expiry of this date,” said the guidelines that have been sent to all the provincial and district education officers.

“You are therefore asked to ensure that all prospective candidates and parents are informed on time.”

Form Four candidates pay Sh3,700 to register for seven subjects in the KCSE.

But those whose seven subjects include agriculture pay Sh250 more because it is considered to constitute more practical aspects than others.

The Nation also established that for the first time, 2011 KCSE examinations will start before Mashujaa Day, formerly Kenyatta Day.

The exams will begin on October 18, three days earlier than has been the tradition.

Previously, the exams started a day after the October 21 Kenyatta Day (Mashujaa Day).

According to the Knec guidelines, the electronic registration of all KCPE and KCSE candidates will make the process of candidates’ registration more efficient.

The e-registration method will entail capturing candidates’ registration details on the Internet, and transmitting the information electronically to the Knec central database.

In addition to entering registration details, the school shall be required to upload candidates’ digital passport photographs into the system instead of submitting printed photographs.

On Monday, the chairman of the Kenya Primary Schools Heads Association, Mr Joseph Karuga, faulted the short notice in the registration deadline.

“I am yet to see the circular, but I think we need to make such changes known well ahead of time,” he said.

Schools without internet connectivity are advised to access the facility from any cyber cafe or government institutions with such facility.